Questionable Comics is a series where Dan Hill surveys professionals from every corner of the comics industry about their methods and experience. This week Dan surveyed Katie Skelly and Sarah Horrocks, two incredible indie comics creators who also co-host a podcast called Trash Twins and collaborated on Agent #73. Up first is Katie Skelly, who releases most of her comics through her site and does columns for Slutist but also recently contributed to Brandon Graham’s Image anthology series Island.
What current projects are you working on?
My Pretty Vampire #3
Use one word to describe how you work.
Essential
What’s your workspace like?
Drawing table, overhead lamp.
What do you listen to when you work?
Howard Stern.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t create and analyze at once.
A page from Katie Skelly’s Agent 9 series for Slutist
How do you get into art mode?
I light a vanilla candle and watch the Tenebrae trailer.
Is your work paper or digital based?
I draw on paper and color digitally.
What’s the one thing you wish you could improve about your work?
Nothing, it’s my favorite.
Who do you consider to be inspirational creators in your field (classic and modern)?
Jim Rugg.
Sarah Horrocks’ work has appeared at Image and in Study Group Magazine as well as on her own site. She has also contributed to The Comics Journal, Comics Alliance and more.
What current projects are you working on?
The Leopard vol. 4. which is the last chapter of my giallo book about like…wereleopards and people getting cut the fuck up.
Use one word to describe how you work.
Hateful
What’s your workspace like?
It’s like this rotating swivel chair between a desk with my computer on it, a drawing table behind it, piles of books everywhere, and then a drawing board that I like to pencil on in my lap, because good posture is for better people than me.
What do you listen to when you work?
When I write, I listen to hip hop or doom metal. Something that I can kind of slip into the mood of what I’m writing, and has a steady beat so I can block everything else out. When I’m pencilling I also like to have music going. And then when I ink, I listen to podcasts or audiobooks or lectures. Sometimes I do that when I pencil too, depending on how much thought I need at that particular time. I like listening to people talk when I’m just kind of doing work, but I need music when I’m trying to actually think of something.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
That comic Brandon Graham did for King City I think, where it’s about being able to draw on anything, and how you can make a comic anywhere under any conditions. That kind of “fuck you, I’m doing this”-ness is very useful for me in giving me the conviction to do what I believe in, and to keep trying to improve without fear of my mistakes.
How do you get into art mode?
For writing I take a shower. Running water is great for writing. It opens up your thoughts. For everything else, I just take a nap, wake up, and get to it. I usually have images related to what I’m working on at the time, so I might go through those to get in the right frame of mind for what I’m working on, but for the most part, it’s wake up, and get to work, everyday for forever. Until my brain breaks, my eyes stop working, or my arms breakdown. Though I’d draw comics with my teeth if I had to.
Is your work paper or digital based?
I pencil and ink on paper, but color digitally. I don’t like how digital looks in terms of lines, because my style is very much about managing mistakes, and doing things I can’t step back from in my line, so I like the natural chaos of it, versus being able to backtrack in digital. Coloring on the other hand works fine for me digitally. I like messing with colors and textures and cutting things up into my comics, and digital is the quickest cheapest way to do that. And I like how it looks. To do what I do digitally color wise would be a lot harder, particularly for comics. Which at the end of the day, should be made fairly quickly.
Sarah Horrocks’ art mixes “chaotic” penciling and sharp digital coloring
What’s the one thing you wish you could improve about your work?
Ugh. Everything. I want my characters forms to be more expressive, without veering off into art comics territory. Also just making everything tighter in execution without becoming wooden. So clarity, without sacrificing meaning.
Who do you consider to be inspirational creators in your field (classic and modern)?
Kyoko Okazaki, Guido Crepax, Katie Skelly, Daisuke Igarashi, Tsutomu Nihei, Emma Rios, Taiyo Matsumoto, Frank Miller, Brendan McCarthy, John Mahoney, Ron Wimberly, Alberto Breccia, Jose Munoz, Blutch, Arthur Ranson, Nicholas Devil, Jose Gonzalez, Q. Hayashida, Moyocco Anno, Suehiro Mauro, Shintaro Kago.
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